22 days to go!!

[dumpster56]

Getting close last day is dec 22.

I have set up a sub teaching gig in North Carolina been to the orientation and all I need to do is key myself into the system when i get down south during Xmas week.

The pension with the cola and medical bennies is all ready to go, recieved our retiree health insurance cards traditional plan backed by the state of NJ yesterday.

My small mortgage is paid two years ahead and quite frankly will get paid off in two years with the lump sum from my wifes small pension.

I figure to work part time at things I want to do, they just opened a trader joes in Cary and they also offered me a part time position. Hey with about 15K in part time money I will have more than I had with my big ugly mortgage taxes and jobs in New jersey!

I cannot wait to be home for good that trip up and down I95 on the east coast is getting old very fast. I have made 12 trips now back and forth 508 miles each way. Did it in 7 Hours and 37 mins yeasterday. Fast still no speeding tickets!!

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hey - Whos gonna keep those oil companies in business if you stop doing those long drives ?

Good luck with everything. I'm sure it will all work out for the best !

22 days isn't long at all.

 

[dumpster56]

Hey - Whos gonna keep those oil companies in business if you stop doing those long drives ?

Good luck with everything. I'm sure it will all work out for the best !

22 days isn't long at all.

35mpg with my 4 banger camry 5 speed. Found gasoline thru october and nov near 1.99 a gallon in NJ and Va.

 

[macdaddy]

I remember when you made the decision to pull the plug... seems like it was definitely the right move. I'm thinking about relocating to that area of the country also, so I'll be interested in reading your updates, once you're there full time!

 

[califdreamer]

You're almost there, newguy. It's fun hearing about the move and countdown. I remember you started posting here about the time I started. We were in similar situations.

Alas, I've decided to stay in San Diego rather than cashing out of the house and moving to AZ or TX or somewhere with reasonable housing costs. I'll have to plug away for a few (hopefully very few) more years.

Look forward to hearing of your ER adventures and hope I'll be there soon

 

[dumpster56]

I remember when you made the decision to pull the plug... seems like it was definitely the right move. I'm thinking about relocating to that area of the country also, so I'll be interested in reading your updates, once you're there full time!

I spent the summer at our new place just south of Raleigh and have as I stated the trip there a bunch of times this fall, I must say I am very impressed with the area. Heck we found a great movie theater that shows independent films and serves wine beer and good coffee while you watch, great parks and lakes, great shopping an incredible Library system, sure the traffic is a pain rush hour but after that its EASY driving. There is amtrak service 4 times a day at a few stations, airport has southwest air flying out of. Taxes are well lower than NJ, and my heating and cooling costs are 40% LOWER. Car insurance 50% lower.

I am sitting here at almost 6am getting ready to head to work for what lets see 16 more times up in Jersey. I really will NOT MISS this area except for the great resturants in the New York area. The one thing that the Raleigh area lacks GOOD Resturants. I stopped trying to find good Oriental places and the Pizza well even that is poor. You must enjoy the fried chicken and pork BBQ. Which in moderation is GREAT!

 

[brewer12345]

I really will NOT MISS this area except for the great resturants in the New York area. The one thing that the Raleigh area lacks GOOD Resturants. I stopped trying to find good Oriental places and the Pizza well even that is poor. You must enjoy the fried chicken and pork BBQ. Which in moderation is GREAT!

Time to take up cooking now that you are retired.

 

[BOBOT]

I figure to work part time at things I want to do, they just opened a trader joes in Cary .....

Whoa! A TJ's in NC??!!!! We were told a year ago that there would be no stores south of DC until they established a distribution center in the south. I hope they're eyeballing my area...

Anyway, congrats. I'm about 4 weeks behind you. It's fun to ponder what you're going to do the first day of your new life, isn't it?

 

[justin]

I spent the summer at our new place just south of Raleigh and have as I stated the trip there a bunch of times this fall, I must say I am very impressed with the area. Heck we found a great movie theater that shows independent films and serves wine beer and good coffee while you watch, great parks and lakes, great shopping an incredible Library system, sure the traffic is a pain rush hour but after that its EASY driving. There is amtrak service 4 times a day at a few stations, airport has southwest air flying out of. Taxes are well lower than NJ, and my heating and cooling costs are 40% LOWER. Car insurance 50% lower.

I am sitting here at almost 6am getting ready to head to work for what lets see 16 more times up in Jersey. I really will NOT MISS this area except for the great resturants in the New York area. The one thing that the Raleigh area lacks GOOD Resturants. I stopped trying to find good Oriental places and the Pizza well even that is poor. You must enjoy the fried chicken and pork BBQ. Which in moderation is GREAT!

Good to hear you're liking the area so much! You must be talking about the Rialto theatre. If not, check it out, they show indy films and beer, wine, drinks, etc. Right up the street from the Rialto is Lilly's pizza (www.lillyspizza.com) which I've only had a slice from once, but it's supposed to be top notch. They even have sidewalk seating. Next door to Lilly's is The Third Place coffee shop (w/ sidewalk seating) (www.thirdplacecoffee.com). This place was always pretty hip and happening (in a cultured, sophisticated way) back during college.

Good restaurants? Bogart's (upscale) on Glenwood Ave (a bit south of the Rialto); 518 West (upscale) (www.518west.com) just down the street from Bogart's. Lucky 32 in Cary (upscale). Good chinese - Crystal Palace (crystalpalacebuffet.com). There's a bunch more good restaurants out there, you just have to know where to look!

 

[dumpster56]

Justin

It was the galaxay in Cary,

The chinese??Szechuan, Hunan, Cantonese

Salad & Fruit Bar

Grill Bar

Prime Rib

Crab Legs

Dedicated Kid's Buffet Bar

Ice Cream & Dessert Bar

I was at that place , when I saw the buffet I was well disappointed. Ala Carte was interesting. I get scared when I see french Fries at a chinese resturant!!

I GAVE UP trying to find good Chinese in the area, the Oriental Grocery store in Cary has a small eat in place not bad though.

Funny the Rialto was the movie theatre that my wife as a young girl went to when it showed the first run movies in the 60s they would walk to it. She lived just up the road off glenwood.

 

[justin]

Grand Asia Market in Cary is where you get your authentic chinese food and groceries. They have a chinese bakery there that you don't see anywhere else besides chinatowns (such as new york's). I used to walk up to that asian store as a kid when I lived accross the street and buy these "haw flake" candies and fireworks. Now the place is huge and is basically a full grocery store (I guess because of all the asian immigrants the area has had in the last decade).

 

[justin]

There's another authentic chinese place at the corner of Brentwood Rd and Capital Blvd that serves chicken feet and a bunch of other stuff I consider weird, but there's always chinese folks eating there.

Just up US 1 from there are a few vietnamese noodlehouses that seem to be busy all the time (particularly the one in Starmount Plaza).

 

[Spanky]

I am curious about the difference in price for buffet with and without crab legs at Crystal Palace. The price of buffet with crab legs is twice the price of no crab legs. A typical Chinese buffet dinner with crab legs and Peking duck is about $10 in Minneapolis, MN.

 

[crazy connie]

Hey NewGuy... You are in your last month at the Salt Mine!!!!

 

[justin]

I am curious about the difference in price for buffet with and without crab legs at Crystal Palace. The price of buffet with crab legs is twice the price of no crab legs. A typical Chinese buffet dinner with crab legs and Peking duck is about $10 in Minneapolis, MN.

$11 w/o crablegs, $20 with crab legs for the dinner buffet. Dunno, guess they are pretty expensive. I think these are the alaskan crab legs, maybe it costs more to fly them down to NC than it does to MN? Around here, it is the rule that the chinese buffets charge extra (usually $5-10) for crab legs. I usually go there for lunch when the buffet is $6.25. This particular restaurant has pretty good quality food for a chinese buffet. And it is a little classier place than your usual chinese buffet.

 

[dumpster56]

I still get a laugh at french Fries being served at the chinese places down south.

Look I am not a food snob BUT I really have given up on Buffets, A great way to get sick, marginal quality and really easy to put together.

The best chef will tell you to stay away from resturant buffets.

 

[justin]

With a buffet, if some food is bad and some good, just don't eat the bad food and get more of the good food. I've found the good chinese buffets around here to be better than the non-buffet chinese take-out places and equivalent to the PF Chang/"asian bistro" type restaurants.

If you've got over 100 dishes to pick from, there's usually at least 3-4 on any given day that are good.

But I understand your criticism of buffets in general. Some places (chinese food or other) have buffets and they really don't seem to care about food quality. These places need to figure out that good food means good flavor, good texture, good temperature and good appearance. Sometimes hard to pull off with a buffet, but those that can do it well are busy for a reason!

 

[dumpster56]

With a buffet, if some food is bad and some good, just don't eat the bad food and get more of the good food. I've found the good chinese buffets around here to be better than the non-buffet chinese take-out places and equivalent to the PF Chang/"asian bistro" type restaurants.

If you've got over 100 dishes to pick from, there's usually at least 3-4 on any given day that are good.

But I understand your criticism of buffets in general. Some places (chinese food or other) have buffets and they really don't seem to care about food quality. These places need to figure out that good food means good flavor, good texture, good temperature and good appearance. Sometimes hard to pull off with a buffet, but those that can do it well are busy for a reason!

I am sorry but I am so darn jaded from the incredible chinese and thai places in the NY NJ area, in fact we are going to YAYA Noodles tonight here in NJ and sunday evergreen on 1st ave in NYC terrific places Chinese

 

[dumpster56]

http://cafeevergreenat69.com/TakeOutMenu.htm

Justin This is the way to do Chinese!!

 

[REWahoo]

The best chef will tell you to stay away from resturant buffets.

In my part of the world, the restaurants with the lowest health inspection scores (featured in "Behind the Kitchen Door" on the local nightly news) are way too often Chinese buffets. No thanks.

 

[justin]

Try Golden Dragon on Hillsborough Street right accross from NC State University. All the chinese grad students from the college of engineering go there and it is AWESOME! Get the tofu vegetable plate with lo mein - it was $3.50 last time I was there and enough food for 2 people. Best lo mein I have ever had - perhaps the best single food item I have ever had - I think they sprinkle crack on it it is so good. One of the few places I'm willing to go out of my way for and deal with finding parking around the college campus. All takeout menu.

http://triangle.citysearch.com/review/6184051

I know there are lots of nasty crappy chinese buffets. The skill comes from finding the good one(s)!

 

[Dreamer]

Okay guys, enough with the Chinese food. It is my absolute favorite and I am trying to lose weight. It sure sounds better than my egg white omelet with vegetables that I had tonight. I am starting to feel hungry and I just had dinner within the last hour!

It sounds like things are definitely going your way. The time will pass quickly and you will soon look back on this time as if it were a bad dream. Glad to hear that you like your new place. I would like to move after my DH retires and NC if one of the places that we are thinking of moving. Keep posting about the area.